Hippety Hoppety!

  With spring's arrival, we all are happy to see the lovely flowers, feel the warm breezes and hear the birds singing.  We are not overly happy to see the scurrying of bugs in the garden, feel the bite of the gnats and hear the buzzing of mosquitoes.  It has occurred to me that I would be hard pressed to find any of those things on a "favorites list" of any season.  I was in high hopes that the freezes of the past winter might have diminished the onslaught of creepy-crawlies a bit but, alas, it is not so.  The gnats and mosquitoes have been busy for the past month and now fleas, roaches and beetles are starting to make their presence known.  This is not a happy time for any  folks who might suffer from Acarophobia or the fear of itch producing critters.  The rascals seem to be crawling out of the woodwork.  (Oh, wait!  Those are termites!)  Anyway, I was pondering this situation today.

  The one nuisance critter that has not made its appearance yet, is the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper.  I noticed last year, I first spotted them on this exact date.  Of course, this does not mean that tomorrow will not find every leaf being munched!  That will cause the "Grasshopper Dance" to once again be the exercise of choice around here.  There is just not much else you can do to rid the place of these hungry hoppers.  The step and twist of this dance is the most effective eradication method available!

  I shall be on the lookout for the tiny red (soon to turn black) grasshoppers.  If I can catch them while still soft and red, I can get a good many of them.  If I wait until they turn black, well, lets just say those little suckers can move pretty fast!  Hopefully, my stomping shoes will be able to limit the numbers that will infiltrate the confines of the garden!